The minnow family (Cyprinidae) is the largest family of fishes in North America and contains about 2100 species Minnows (Family Cyprinidae) Keith Farnand The minnow family (Cyprinidae) is the largest family of fishes in North America and contains about 2100 species worldwide (Page & Burr, 1991). It is present on all continents except South America, Australia, and Antarctica with its greatest diversity in the South East Asia region. In North America we have about 230 of the 2100 species present in our waters. The name minnow is often applied to mud minnows (family Umbridae), killifishes (Cyprinodontidae), and in general, many of the smaller juvenile fishes (Phillips, Smid, & Underhill, 1982). In order for a fish to be a true minnow, though, it must be of the family Cyprinidae.

Most minnows are usually small, but some, such as the introduced grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and some other species native to western North America grow to a size of 20-100lbs. The minnow is often thought to be any small fish, but in fact, they can grow to be as long as 3m and up to 100 lbs. The smallest of the minnow family matures at a length of 10mm. The physical characteristics of minnows are sometimes easily confused with that of the sucker, since they are closely related, but they are different in many ways. Minnows lack the sucker-like mouth, but some minnows such as the longnose dace (Rhinichtys cataractae) do resemble the mouth of a sucker somewhat. Both suckers and minnows lack teeth in the mouth, instead both have pharyngeal teeth deep in the throat that grinds the food up against the basioccipital bone. Minnows, however, have more teeth than the suckers. The minnow may have up to three rows of teeth where the sucker would only have one row.

Also, minnows do not have spines, except for some non-native species such as the carp (Cyprinus carpio) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) (Eddy & Underhill, 1969). Generally, minnows have 1 dorsal fin, and a pair of abdominal pelvic fins. The dorsal usually has less than 10 rays, but some of the introduced species may have more than 10. The members of the minnow family always posses a lateral line which is used for motion detection. Minnows are very important fishes to the aquatic community as they serve as a food source for many of the larger predatory fishes, as well as birds. They are valuable to these larger fishes since they are easily found in large numbers and are usually quite small which makes them easy to catch. Also, minnows are of value to humans economically. For many years bluntnose (Pimephales notatus), fathead (Pimephales promelas), and shiner (Luxilus cornutus) minnows have been used as bait for both commercial and sportfishing.

As a result the bait industry of North America has become quite large, and depends upon the abundance of minnows for growth. There are some minnows that are used for food such as the carp, but generally speaking they are not thought of as a food source due to their extensive ribs, and often "muddy" taste (Eddy & Underhill, 1969). Minnows show a great deal of variation in their food sources. They can be either omnivores or carnivores. The omnivores tend to eat more herbaceous materials and thus have molar-like teeth that are used for grinding up the food. They also have specialized intestines that are longer and are black in color since the plant food takes longer to digest. The minnows that feed on minute animal lifeforms generally spend most of their time in the middle of the water column, since that is the most abundant source of food for them. These minnows have hooked teeth with or without serrations that are used to either pierce the skin, or shred the prey (Eddy & Underhill, 1969).

Minnows are able to occupy a wide variety of habitats as a result of their ability to feed on common plant/animal life in streams, lakes, and rivers. Also, as water temperature decreases in minnow environments, they become more and more nocturnal (Greenwood & Metcalfe, 1998). This study used the minnow Phoxinus phoxinus and showed that as water temperature decreased, minnow activity became more nocturnal, and their use of refuge decreased. This increased nocturnal activity was believed to be an adaptation of the minnows to avoid diurnal predators as the predators became less and less active as water temperature decreased, and as a result minnows were less likely to seek refuge. Most minnows spawn in the spring or early summer, but there is some variability to this according to species. Some minnows, such as the carp tend to crowd themselves into shallow water where they will deposit their eggs and splash them around. Other species go through elaborate patterns for spawning. One example is when the male builds a nest made of stones where the female deposits her eggs, and the male fertilizes them.

The male will usually then guard the nest from other fishes until the eggs are ready to hatch, at which point he leaves. As a result of the abundance of minnows in small areas, there is often cross-fertilization of the eggs and thus hybrids are created. These hybrids are very common, and are quite difficult to identify from the original species (Eddy & Underhill, 1969). Although many small fishes are thought to be minnows many are not, they must belong to the Cyprinidae family in order to be a minnow. The minnow is a family of fishes that is able to survive in a wide variety of climates, and habitats as you can see due to its geographic dispersion. The minnow is not only important to the aquatic food chain for predation and food, but also to humans for use in the bait industry. REFERENCES "minnow" Encyclopedia Britannica Online. available. . October 19, 1999. Greenwood, M. & N. Metcalfe. 1998. Minnows become nocturnal at low temperatures. Journ. of Fish Biol. 53: 25-32. Page, L. & B.

Burr. 1991. Freshwater Fishes. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, New York. 63 p. Eddy, S. & J. Underhill. 1969. How to know the freshwater fishes. Wm. C. Brown Company. Dubuque, Iowa. 60 p. Philips, Schmid, & J. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the Minnesota Region. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 108 p.

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Sign up to access the rest of the document. TERM 10000 general knowledge questions and answers No Questions Quiz 16 Ans 10000_questions 32 The Mighty Minnow | Daily Mail Online The Mighty Minnow by COLIN FERNANDEZ, Daily Mail Last updated at 08:19 16 December 2005 It weighs only half an ounce and measures no more than four-and-a-half inches from head to tail. But compared with a normal specimen, it is a monster of the deep. Meet Mighty Minnow, believed to be the largest ever caught in Britain. What's the smallest fish you've ever caught? Tell us below on reader comments. It is more than twice as big as the average common minnow, and 10 per cent heavier than the previous record holder. The man who landed it is Dr Mark Everard, 47, an aquatic scientist from Great Somerford, Wiltshire. His proud picture the minnow in the palm of his hand might not be quite so dramatic as the usual fishing trophy snaps featuring huge catfish or marlin dwarfing their human captor.

But the look of pride on Dr Everard's face is unmistakably the same. Unusual small fry Yesterday, he told how he came to pit his wits against the smallest member of the carp family, known in the trade as Phoxinus Phoxinus. Dr Everard, who works for the Environment Agency, said he was walking near his home when he spotted a shoal of unusual small fry in a pond. "I know my fish but I couldn't tell what they were and was concerned they had been dumped from a home aquarium. So I decided the best thing to do would be to catch one. I went back with a friend to act as a witness and took a camera and some very sensitive scales. "It fought with Hemingway proportions, but I managed to land it safely after a few seconds and identified it as a minnow." Dr Everard used a red worm and a tiny hook. Merely employing a net would not have worked because the water in the pond was very clear and the minnows would have been frightened off. After weighing and photographing the catch, Dr Everard threw it back to fight another day. "This was caught by design and is a legitimate British record," he said.

"It weighed 15 grams - anything under a pound has to be weighed in grams." Dr Everard has contacted the British Record Fish Committee, based in Devon, who are to verify the record. The previous record minnow was caught in Spennymoor, County Durham, and weighed 13.5 grams. FISHY FACTS MINNOWS are the most abundant of British freshwater fishes. THEY are so sensitive to chemicals that scientists use them to test effects of pollution in rivers. AT mating time, males undergo a spectacular change - from drab brown to having vivid red fins and golden bellies. THE female lays 1,000 eggs at a time, and they take between five and ten days to hatch. The babies then hide under stones where they eat their yolk-sac. DESPITE its lack of stature, the 2in minnow is not the smallest fish in British waters. That honour belongs to the stickleback, which can be less than an inch even when fully grown.

Colorado River Fishery Project Colorado River Fishery Project 445 West Gunnison Avenue, Suite 140 | Grand Junction, Colorado 81501 Phone: 970-245-9319 | Fax: 970-628-7217 T. Hicks and T. Bonaquista conduct electrofishing surveys of endangered fish on the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, 2004. Photo by D. Osmundson. What is the CRFP? The Colorado River Fishery Project – Grand Junction (CRFP) was established in 1979 to conduct research and management activities to benefit four endangered fish species in the upper Colorado River Basin. It was expanded in 1992 to include spawning and rearing facilities for the endangered fish. The CRFP is a research and management field station; the Ouray National Fish Hatchery – Grand Valley Unit, is the fish propagation center. Together, they comprise the Grand Junction Fisheries Office. The Geographic scope of the Grand Junction station includes the Colorado, Gunnison and San Juan rivers of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

Its Utah sister station, Colorado River Fishery Project – Vernal, similarly covers the Green, Yampa and White rivers of Utah and Colorado. « Back to the top The CRFP mission is to identify and implement methods to recover the endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), bonytail (Gila elegans), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus). Species will be considered recovered when populations are self-sustaining in the wild, threats are reduced, and adult numbers are sufficient to maintain long-term genetic diversity. Ultimately, the goal is for these fish to no longer need the protection of the Endangered Species Act. CRFP field station activities include basin-wide monitoring of rare fish populations and their habitats, basic life-history and management-oriented research, instream-flow assessments and recommendations, database management and analyses, and fish propagation.

Primary conservation projects in recent years include assessing status and trends of riverine Colorado pikeminnow and humpback chub populations, assessing the status and trends of the razorback sucker population in Lake Powell and that population’s interactions with adjacent riverine populations, reducing the impacts of introduced fish on native species, restoring fish passage over diversion dams, rearing and stocking razorback sucker and bonytail to augment declining populations in the wild. « Back to section top Young Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius). Photo by J. Ferreira. Colorado pikeminnow – Noted as North America’s largest member of the minnow family (Cyprinidae), Ptychocheilus lucius is one of four members of the genus Ptychocheilus. It has inhabited the Colorado River basin since at least the mid-Pliocene Epoch (about six million years). However, between the 1930s and 1960s, a series of major dams were built on the Colorado River and its tributaries, blocking fish migrations and changing the seasonal pattern of flows and water temperature downstream.

Once ranging from the Wyoming border to the Gulf of California, the Colorado pikeminnow is now restricted to the upper Colorado River basin, upstream of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell (about 25 percent of its former range). Ptychocheilus lucius is a piscivore (fish-eater) and may grow to a length of two meters (six feet), though the largest found in recent years was 1.3 meters (four feet) long. Though uncommon, its distribution is widespread within warm-water habitats of the upper basin, occurring in the Colorado mainstem, Gunnison, Green, Yampa and White rivers. The continued existence of this species is threatened by habitat changes caused by altered flow regimes as well as predation and competition from non-native fish species. Young humpback chub captured from the Colorado River at Black Rocks. Photo by D. Osmundson. Humpback chub « Back to section top Humpback chub - Also a member of the minnow family (Cyprinidae), the humpback chub Gila cypha is one of several species of the genus Gila found in warm-water reaches of the Colorado River and its tributaries.

Unlike the Colorado pikeminnow, populations of humpback chub are confined to specific reaches, generally canyon-bound regions containing deep, swift water with turbulent eddies, habitat conditions the species is uniquely adapted for. One population occurs in the lower basin, within Grand Canyon National Park, and five others in the upper basin: three in the mainstem Colorado River, one in the Green River and one in the Yampa River. Only two of these populations are relatively large (thousands of individuals); the others are small and tenuous. This species is noted for the pronounced hump on its back, directly behind the head. The purpose of this hump is unclear but may be related to swimming performance in turbulent conditions. The species is omnivorous, primarily feeding on insects, crustaceans, plants and small fish. In addition to range reduction from dams, habitat change from altered flow regimes, and predation from non-native fish, humpback chub are also threatened with hybridization with other chubs, particularly the roundtail chub Gila robusta, another chub species still common in the upper basin. Razorback sucker captured from the Colorado River near Grand Junction, 1986. USFWS file photo.

Razorback sucker « Back to section top Razorback sucker - The only member of the genus Xyrauchen in the sucker family (Catomstomidae), X. texanus once occurred throughout warm-water reaches of the mainstem Colorado River and its tributaries from Utah and Colorado downstream to the Gulf of California. By the 1990s the wild population in the upper Colorado River mainstem was essentially extirpated and only a few hundred individuals remained in Utah’s Green River. In the lower basin, a relatively large population persisted in Lake Mohave, downstream of Hoover Dam, up until the 1980s, but even this population has declined precipitously in the past 10-20 years. In all populations, reproductive failure or high mortality of young resulted in extremely low annual recruitment to the adult populations. Over time, natural mortality of adults without replacement by young led to gradual population declines. The prominent ridge or keel on its back, for which the razorback sucker is named, gives the species a striking appearance.

The purpose of the keel is unclear but may aid in the fishes ability to swim or maintain its position in turbulent water, or may be an anti-predator device making it difficult to be swallowed, much like the spine on the back of a catfish. Razorback sucker consume zooplankton, aquatic insects, and algae. The greatest threat to the continued existence of this species appears to be predation on young by introduced, non-native fishes. In addition, alteration of river flows by dam operations have limited the flooding of river bottomlands in spring, a seasonal habitat type believed critical for first-year growth and survival of young razorback sucker. Hybridization with other species of sucker also appears to be problem. Unknown chub species with some bonytail-like characteristics captured from the Colorado River in 2004. USFWS file photo. Bonytail « Back to section top Bonytail – This is the rarest of the three species of chub (Genus Gila) native to the upper Colorado River and the most endangered of the four big-river fishes. Historical reports indicate Gila elegans was once common in warm-water reaches throughout the upper and lower basins.

The last documented individual from the upper mainstem Colorado River was captured in 1983. Some bonytail-like specimens are sometimes captured in Cataract Canyon above the Lake Powell inflow, but these may be humpback or roundtail chubs containing bonytail genes (hybrids). A handful of old adults may still occur in Lake Mohave in the lower basin but captures of these by biologists are becoming increasingly infrequent. For the most part, the species is considered extirpated in the wild. As the name implies, the caudal peduncle (narrow part of body to which the tail fin attaches) is very narrow and long, setting it apart from the other two species of chub. Old-timers referred to these fish as “broomtails.” In the 1980s, bonytails from Lake Mohave were brought to Dexter National Fish Hatchery ( New Mexico) to be used as broodstock. Progeny of these are being raised by the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife and have been recently released into upper Colorado River reaches. Whether these stocked bonytails will survive in the wild is not yet known.

Because bonytail populations were exptirpated before biologists had a chance to study them in the wild, very little is known of their life history, their habitat requirements, or the reasons why they declined and disappeared. « Back to the top Jump to a staff member: « Back to staff directory Dale began his U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service career in 1990 when he was hired as a seasonal Biological Technician for the Colorado River Fishery Project in Grand Junction, Colorado. After three seasons, he was hired full time as a Fish Biologist and became responsible for overseeing the station’s field activities in the San Juan River basin. Dale's responsibilities have ranged across a number of areas including: 1) augmentation and monitoring of the San Juan River's endangered fish populations; 2) annually monitoring the river-wide distribution and abundance of the large-bodied fish community in the San Juan River; 3) performing and analyzing effects of nonnative fish removals; 4) determining habitat preference and spawning site locations of endangered razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow; and 5) surveying Lake Powell for populations of endangered razorback sucker.

Dale has spent most of his field career working from rafts and motorized boats in rivers, ponds and lakes of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. From 2011 to 2012, it was Dale’s privilege to supervise both Colorado River Fishery Project field stations (Grand Junction and Vernal, Utah). In January 2012 Dale was hired as the Project Leader for the newly re-organized Grand Junction Fisheries Office, which consists of the Colorado River Fishery Project and Ouray National Fish Hatchery – Grand Valley Unit. Dale is also the USFWS representative to the Biology Committee of the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and USFWS Region 6 representative to the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRBRIP). Dale has published two peer-reviewed journal articles on his work in the San Juan River basin along with authoring over 35 agency reports, six species augmentation plans, and a genetics management plan. He has been a contributing author on both the flow recommendations report for the reoperation of Navajo Reservoir and the long-term monitoring protocols document currently being used by the SJRBRIP. Thad Bingham. Credit: USFWS.

« Back to staff directory Brian began his career with the Colorado Division of Wildlife in 1987 as a seasonal/temporary cold-water fish culturist. In 1996, upon completion of his Bachelor of Science degree, Brian started work with the Grand Junction CRFP as a Biological Technician. Brian then went to work for the Colorado Division of Wildlife as a full-time cold water fish culturist in 1999. In 2003 Brian was hired as a Fish Biologist for the Grand Junction CRFP. Along with Thad Bingham, his primary responsibilities include the management and operation of the CRFP 24-Road Endangered Species Fish Hatchery. This includes management of captive reared razorback sucker broodstock and an annual production and distribution of 15,000 intensively reared razorback sucker. Travis Francis. Credit: USFWS. « Back to staff directory Travis has worked 12 years performing fisheries research and management in the Colorado, Gunnison and San Juan rivers. He began work for the Grand Junction field office in 2003 as a seasonal Biological Science Technician.

He became a full time Fisheries Technician in 2004 and served as a Crew Leader for various station projects. Since 2006, Travis has served as a Fish Biologist performing fisheries research and management associated with the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program (UCRRP) and San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRIP). During his involvement with both programs, Travis’ responsibilities have ranged across a number of areas including: 1) Database manager for the UCRRP, 2) humpback chub population monitoring in Black Rocks on the Colorado River, 3) razorback sucker monitoring on the San Juan arm of Lake Powell, 4) non-native centrarchid removal on the Colorado River, 5) fish ladder operation on the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers, 6) razorback sucker propagation at the Ouray National Fish Hatchery -- Grand Valley Unit and, 7) leading field crews for other projects associated with the UCCRP and SJRIP. Ben Schleicher. Credit: USFWS.

« Back to staff directory Ben started his Fish and Wildlife Service career with Grand Junction CRFP in March 2010 as a seasonal Biological Science Technician where he assisted biologists with field data collection in the Colorado, Gunnison, Yampa, Green, and San Juan Rivers. In May of 2011, he became a Crew Leader overseeing field crews collecting data for numerous projects. In July of 2012, he became a full time Fish Biologist and now oversees all CRFP field studies in the San Juan River basin. These studies include yearly monitoring of the large-bodied fish community and the control of problematic populations of invasive fish species. He works closely with a variety of agencies and offices, including: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; New Mexico Department of Game and Fish; Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Bureau of Indian Affairs; and the Navajo Nation. He is one of the principal investigators for the razorback sucker survey taking place on Lake Powell. In addition to his field studies, he also performs several other collateral duties for the CRFP office. Emily Buchanan. Credit: USFWS.

« Back to staff directory Mike received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries Biology with Aquaculture option from Humboldt State University in 2003. During college and shortly after graduation, he worked for Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission participating in salmon and rockfish surveys off the Northern California coast, surveying anglers and retrieving coded wire tags from hatchery-raised salmon. In 2003, Mike and his family moved to Grand Junction and began working on various fisheries-related projects for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. He performed extensive analyses of fish otoliths, documenting age structure of fish populations from throughout the state. Mike was also involved in identifying zooplankton trends in many Colorado reservoirs and had the opportunity to co-author a Zooplankton Compendium while working for CDOW. In 2008, Mike began working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has proven himself to be a valuable asset to the endangered fish recovery program. Based out of the Ouray National Fish Hatchery -- Grand Valley Unit, Mike uses his aquaculture background propagating, rearing, and stocking endangered fish.

He is also deeply involved in many of the educational outreach events around the Grand Valley and prides himself on helping future generations learn about native ecosystems, endangered species, and the importance of conservation efforts. Brendan Crowley. Credit: USFWS. « Back to staff directory Brendan began working with the CRFP as a Biological Science Technician in 2009 after graduating from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation. Brendan started his fisheries career in Yellowstone National Park working with westslope cutthroat trout. After working with the CRFP, U.S. Forest Service, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on a seasonal basis, he was hired full time by CRFP in 2012 to serve as a Crew Leader. His duties include leading field crews for a variety of studies throughout the Colorado River drainage, assisting biologists at the Ouray National Fish Hatchery – Grand Valley Unit, operating and maintaining fish ladders on the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, and assisting with database management for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. Doug Osmundson. Credit: USFWS.

« Back to staff directory Graduate studies in Aquatic Ecology at Utah State University brought Doug to Grand Junction in 1983 to study largemouth bass predation on Colorado pikeminnow. He was hired as a Fish Biologist by the CRFP in 1986. His earlier studies included: experimental use of flooded gravel-pits as grow-out ponds for hatchery-produced Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker and radiotelemetry of Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker to determine spawning movements and patterns of seasonal habitat use. His evaluation of effects of river regulation on maintenance of habitats critical to Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker in the Colorado River led to development of flow recommendations for the upper Colorado River. From 1991 to the present, Doug has monitored status and trends of adult Colorado pikeminnow in the upper Colorado River, working with Dr. Kenneth Burnham and Dr. Gary White at Colorado State University to develop annual estimates of population abundance, recruitment, and adult survival rate.

Doug’s studies have also included experimentally removing largemouth bass from river backwaters, monitoring embeddedness of cobble-gravel substrates, studying life-history attributes of Colorado pikeminnow (growth, longevity, sex-ratio, generation time, age-at-first-maturity, sexual size dimorphism, etc.), evaluating reproduction of stocked razorback sucker, and linking upstream range limits of Colorado pikeminnow to riverine thermal regimes. Doug is certified by the Ecological Society of America as a Senior Ecologist, and has published in the Journal of Fish Biology, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Ecological Applications, and River Research and Applications. He currently serves as a member of the Colorado pikeminnow Recovery Team. Darek Elverud. Credit: USFWS. « Back to staff directory Darek began his fisheries career working for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks while an undergraduate at the University of Montana. After graduation, Darek worked as a seasonal fisheries technician for the U.S. Forest Service and as a fish biologist for the Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

While working for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Darek served as a native aquatics biologist on the San Juan and Colorado rivers, working with Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. Darek began working with CRFP in 2014 and is currently working on projects to estimate abundance of the Colorado pikeminnow population in the upper Colorado River and fish community monitoring in the lower Gunnison River. Darek also assists other staff with other CRFP projects. « Back to the top Jamie with trammel net. Credit: USFWS. The Colorado River Fishery Project conducts research on the life history of the four endangered Colorado River fish and the habitat that supports them. Knowledge of the biology of the fish and their ecological requirements is essential to understanding the threats the fish face and to developing management strategies for their recovery. Studies have included such subjects as timing and location of spawning, distribution and relative abundance of larvae and young-of-the-year, dispersal patterns of adults, seasonal habitat requirements, growth rate, survival rate, sex ratio and food habits. Habitat studies have focused on the effects of various flow regimes on habitat suitability.

Availability of preferred mesohabitats (pools, eddies, backwaters, etc.) vary depending on flow stage. Additionally, such habitats are generally formed during large spring-flow events. The quality of the substrata (river bottom sediments) that produce algae and benthic invertebrates, the base of the food chain, are affected by flows. Aquatic invertebrate samping helps researchers assess effects of flow and fine sediment accumulation in the river-bed. Photo by D. Osmundson. Seasonal water temperatures that affect feeding rates and timing of spawning are also affected by flows and river regulation. Hence, assessing the suitability of the environment for the endangered fishes requires linking our knowledge of their biological requirements with our understanding of how flows affect the quality of their physical habitat. Equally important is understanding how the endangered fish interact with other members of the biological community, i.e., the foods they feed on and the predators that feed on them. Hence, research is a critical prerequisite to devising effective management actions. Non-native fish Non-native smallmouth bass captured from the Colorado River in Ruby Canyon, 2003. Photo by B. Burdick.

One of the greatest threats to the endangered fish is the introduction of fish species not native to the Colorado River basin. Several of these are game fish, popular with anglers in their own native drainage basins. Some small-bodied species may have been introduced as bait minnows. Whether stocked intentionally or accidentally, these non-native fish can compete with or prey on the Colorado River native fish. In the nearby Yampa River, populations of the endangered fishes as well as other non-endangered native species have been decimated by the introduction of non-native northern pike and smallmouth bass. In the San Juan River, management efforts to control non-native fish numbers over the past ten years have focused on removing common carp and channel catfish with some success. As a result, populations of native fish have responded with increased survival, and for one species, the bluehead sucker, an expansion of range. In the Colorado River, introduced centrarchids (basses and sunfish) appear to pose the greatest threat to the native fish fauna. Smallmouth and largemouth bass, rare in the 1980s, are now common in the river near Grand Junction, Colorado.

These popular sportfish are voracious predators on other fishes, particularly the native fishes, which lack spines or other means of protection. The CRFP and its partner, the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, are working to determine the source of these fish and the best means to control their numbers. Because bass are popular with the sportfishing public, the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife works to develop warm-water angling opportunities in nearby off-channel ponds and lakes. Fish ladders Low-head dams were constructed early in the 20th century to provide irrigation water for farms in Colorado’s Grand Valley. Although important to agriculture, these dams blocked upstream fish movement and eliminated many miles of habitat once suited to the endangered fish. Working with its partners, the CRFP helped restore fish passage on the lower Gunnison River near Grand Junction in 1996 with the completion of a fish ladder around the Redlands Diversion Dam. From 1996 to 2012, some 115,000 native fish have ascended the Redlands Fish Ladder including 122 endangered Colorado pikeminnow, 28 razorback sucker, eight bonytail, and one humpback chub.

Fish passage was also provided on the Colorado River upstream of Palisade, Colorado with the completion of fish ladders at the Grand Valley Project Diversion Dam in 2005 and the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam in 2008. Through 2012, 58,000 native fish have passed the more upstream dam, including two razorback sucker, six humpback chub, and 22 bonytail. Canal fish screens Canal diversions that entrapped thousands of native riverine fish each year since the turn of the century are now being retrofitted with state-of-the-art mechanical fish screens designed to safely return fish to the river. Until these are operated continuously throughout the irrigation season, the CRFP crews will manually remove native fish that are trapped when the canals drain in the fall. These fish are then trucked to the river and released. Floodplain Restoration Prior to the building of dams and diversions on the Colorado River and its tributaries, spring snowmelt in the mountains resulted in the river topping its banks in many if not most years. Razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow used the flooded, off-channel habitats created during this time.

For razorback sucker, these sites were critical as first-year nursery areas because of the warm and food-rich conditions there. Due to reduced flows and levees built by landowners, these seasonal floodplain habitats are reduced in area and infrequently available. Restoring some of these sites so that they flood more frequently is one of the key elements of the strategy to recover razorback sucker populations. The CRFP has worked to inventory floodplain areas along the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, and along with its partners, has entered into various agreements with landowners so that these sites can be managed to benefit the endangered fish. « Back to the top In addition to the Colorado River Fishery Project, the Grand Junction Fisheries Office includes the Ouray National Fish Hatchery – Grand Valley Unit. The hatchery consists of several facilities: 1) Horsethief Broodstock Ponds, 2) The Grand Valley Propagation Facility, 3) The Horsethief Canyon Native Fish Facility, and 4) various grow-out ponds. Offspring from wild razorback suckers are held in ponds and spawned every spring. Matings between pairs of fish are planned so as to maximize the genetic diversity of their offspring.

Eggs are hatched and then reared for about a year in a water-reuse hatchery. Progeny from each mating are reared separately in indoor tanks. Fish are placed in grow-out ponds in the spring when they are large enough to be marked with a small electronic tag. These tags can later be used to identify individuals, their respective parentage, and when and where they were stocked. The ponds allow time for the fish to adjust to a natural environment and grow larger before being released in the wild. After 4-6 months, they are stocked into the Colorado, Gunnison and San Juan rivers. Field crews monitor the survival and spawning of the stocked fish. Horsethief Ponds – A series of ponds constructed at the Horsethief State Wildlife Area are used for holding the razorback sucker broodstock. These fish are brought indoors in the spring where they are held until ready to be spawned. The males that are matched with females for mating are changed each year according to a schedule designed to maximize the genetic diversity of the offspring. The Grand Valley Propagation Facility – A water-reuse hatchery was built in 1996 specifically to rear razorback sucker.

The hatchery contains some 94 circular, fibreglass tanks. Water used in the tanks is filtered and reused over and over. Annually, 21,000 fish are reared at the hatchery to a length of 200 mm before being transferred to grow-out ponds; an additional 7,000 are reared to a length of 300 mm and are then stocked directly in the river. Horsethief Canyon Native Fish Facility, located in Snook’s Bottom near Fruita, Colorado. Photo by D. Ryden, USFWS. Horsethief Canyon Native Fish Facility – Located just outside of Fruita, CO this facility consists of 22 ponds ranging in size from 0.1 to 0.5 acres (6.2 total surface acres). Each is 5-6 feet deep and lined with a geomembrane fabric to reduce seepage. A small onsite building is used for holding, spawning, and rearing operations.

Construction was completed in 2012 and was funded by the two endangered fish recovery programs to hold and rear endangered razorback sucker, Colorado pikeminnow, and potentially bonytail and humpback chub. Grow-out Ponds – A variety of ponds are used to rear razorback sucker prior to their release in the wild. Some of these ponds are situated on land owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, others are leased from local landowners. Fish are moved to the ponds in the spring from the hatchery and are later captured in the fall, tagged, and released in the river. « Back to the top Monitoring To determine whether the endangered fish are responding to recovery actions, populations of the endangered fish must be monitored over time. Annual capture surveys using standardized electrofishing and netting techniques provide data with which fish densities or relative abundance can be calculated. Over a series of years, such capture indices can show whether the abundance of a given population is trending upwards or downwards. « Back to the top The Colorado River Fishery Project functions under guidance and funding provided by the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program .

These two recovery programs are cooperative partnerships created to recover the four endangered fishes of the upper basin while allowing for continued and future water development. All CRFP activities are governed by committees comprised of representatives from federal and state agencies, affected Indian nations, and other public and private organizations. Program cooperators in the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program include: Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, Colorado Water Congress, Environmental Defense Fund, National Park Service, States of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, The Nature Conservancy, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Utah Water Users Association, Western Area Power Administration, and Wyoming Water Association. Program cooperators in the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program include: Jicarilla Apache Nation, Navajo Nation, Southern Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, States of Colorado and New Mexico, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, and various water development interests.

Minnows:?Big or small, tell me all/Biological Bits | News, Sports, Jobs - The Mining Gazette Minnows:?Big or small, tell me all/Biological Bits Outdoors Mar 29, 2013 When anglers hear the word minnow, they think of any small silvery fish. Some folks think of the SS Minnow on Gilligan’s Island and perhaps it was named after the fish, but only Hollywood knows. They also believe there are very few kinds of minnows and frequently talk about blues, grays, pike and perch minnows as being the types of minnows. This is typically what they ask for when they purchase bait. Not exactly true! Some also think that all minnows are the young of larger fishes and ask what they will be when they get older. Minnows, true minnows, are members of a specific family of fishes just as there are the trout family, the perch family or the muskie family. Fry and not minnow is the proper term for the newly hatched young of these families. Minnow is a general term used to refer to small fresh and salt water fish, especially those used for bait.

More specifically it refers to freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, the carp family. Yes, carp, including Asian carp, goldfish and koi are family members. This family is the largest of all fish families, with about 2,400 species worldwide. There are about 1,600 minnow species in North America. Most of the minnow family members only live 3-4 years, a few 7-10 years, but some of the largest can live for over 20 years. They spawn in the spring or early summer and some species can have multiple broods. The smallest never get over 2 inches long. The largest minnow in North America is the Colorado pikeminnow, formerly named the squawfish. It can attain a length of 6 feet and weigh up to 100 pounds. Let’s see you build a minnow trap to catch those puppies. In Michigan 45 species of minnows are or were present. Most minnow species are more commonly found in the lower peninsula.

Of the 45, four species have been introduced: common carp, goldfish, sucker mouth minnow and ghost shiner; three are extinct: weed shiner, ironcolor shiner and bigeye chub; and four are endangered: redside dace, silver shiner, pugnose minnow and southern redbelly dace. The Ontonagon River system has 22 species of minnows, of which only the common carp is not native to Michigan or North America, coming from Europe. In addition to minnows, there are other small fish a local angler may likely encounter. The main one of these is the sculpin (family Cottidae), often called the muddler by fishermen and imitated by fly tyers. There are four species are present in our local waters. The slimy and mottled sculpin are the two residents of almost every area stream, which make great brook and brown trout bait. As a young area angler, a live sculpin always caught me the biggest brookies. The other two species, deepwater and spoonhead are found in Lake Superior and important as lake trout forage.

Another important forage fish in area lakes and streams, are the darters. The darters, of which there are 15 species in Michigan , are in the perch family (Percidae). The three most common in the Copper Country area are Iowa darters, johnny darters and logperch. Minnows are a very important part of the aquatic ecosystem in the underwater fish-eat-fish world, as expressed in the first verse of the song The Minnow & The Trout. Help me out, said the minnow to the trout. I was lost and found myself swimming in your mouth. Tip for the day: Baits that imitate them will catch more fish. We have many native and non-native minnow species that are found far from their native range in our Michigan waters. How are they spread? Minnow dealers get their supply from harvesters who mainly seine them from various sources, Saginaw Bay being one. They then do not sort them, but sell them at what is called pit run to bait dealers, who pass them on the anglers. The well-meaning anglers then dump their left-over bait into the water thinking they will supplement the forage base.

This action, although well-intentioned can impact the ecosystem of a given lake. One example would be Gratiot Lake, which was recently found to have a growing bullhead population. Bullhead are a species that have few predators and are not favored by anglers, thus their numbers grow rapidly and crowd out other forage and game fish. Therefore, a good rule of thumb would be not to dump your left over bait into the water, but put it on the shore where a mink or eagle may find a meal. Go Fish!

Question: The minnow is the tiniest member of what fish family?
Answer: Carp